American Airlines to Let Employees Pick its Paint Job

One of the questions that airline employees and enthusiasts alike have agonized over is how American Airlines will decide to paint its airplanes, post-US Airways merger. Now we know: American is going to let its employees decide.

One of the questions that airline employees and enthusiasts alike have agonized over is how American Airlines will decide to paint its airplanes, post-US Airways merger. Now we know: American is going to let its employees decide.

It's not something we would have seen at American before now: American's previous management created entirely new branding in January, just before the merger with US Airways was announced. Many speculated that once the merger went through, the new management team—primarily made up of US Airways employees—would do away with the new, expensive scheme.

This week, CEO Doug Parker made his official position known. In the airline's weekly Arrivals newsletter, Doug noted that, "our livery should represent the American brand well. It should be professional, and it should be cost-efficient—but it is not a make-or-break decision for our airline."

That part about cost-efficiency was important, and it's why the new logo won't be going anywhere: A ton of money was spent on it, and a ton more money would have to be spent to redo it. And since newer airplanes can't be polished metal anymore due to composite materials, they can't go back to the bare metal scheme either. For that reason, the airline presented two options for the airplanes.

The first option is to keep the livery and tail the way it is today. The second option is to replace the big, loud stylized American flag on the tail with the old AA logo. Employees will be able to vote on what they prefer by January 2, and the winner will get painted on the fleet.

It was also revealed the management will extend it heritage airplane program to the American fleet as well. At US Airways, one airplane was painted in the colors of a predecessor airline to honor the history. (There are airplanes for Piedmont, Allegheny, PSA, and America West). Soon, we'll see the colors of TWA flying again on an American aircraft—and maybe more will follow.

This whole thing was a smart move by management. This management team long ago realized that the paint scheme on an airplane is extremely important to employees and not nearly as important to travelers. In addition, they were able to see the feedback after the new colors were rolled out. Employees were sad to have lost the old Eagle. Now, the employees can choose what they want. That's not something we would have seen under previous management.

This new kind of management style has been showing up in other places as well. On day one, the reserved parking spots for management at headquarters were eliminated. It's first-come, first-served even for the CEO. They also removed the security guard who was guarding the executive offices at headquarters. Things aren't going well when you feel the need to hire security to protect you from your own employees.

These may seem like small moves, but they are pretty indicative of what will need to be a big cultural change at American. They seem to be off to a good start. And in the new year, we'll finally be able to answer that important question—how will American paint the airplanes?